US President Donald Trump has once again questioned the Biden administration’s move to provide $21 million to India for “voter turnout” and guessed if they were “trying to get somebody else elected”.
“Why do we need to spend $21 million on voter turnout in India? I guess they were trying to get somebody else elected. We have got to tell the Indian Government… This is a total breakthrough,” he said at a summit in Miami on Thursday.
President Trump reads some examples of the massive fraud, waste and abuse his administration has CUT from the federal government.
PROMISES MADE, PROMISES KEPT. pic.twitter.com/br9a1AKihY
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 19, 2025
His remarks came days after the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by billionaire Elon Musk, disclosed that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) contributed $21 million to boost “voter turnout” in India.
The DOGE, Washington’s ‘cost-cutting’ agency set up by Donald Trump, on February 16 listed items on which the “US taxpayer dollars were going to be spent” and the list included “USD 21M for voter turnout in India.” It noted that all of the items have been cancelled.
The DOGE also said that another $29 million was slated for “strengthening the political landscape in Bangladesh” – a country that last year witnessed political turmoil amid allegations of US ‘deep state’ involvement in the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and $39 million for “fiscal federalism” and “biodiversity conservation” in Nepal, among other international fundings.
“Over the past month, we have effectively eliminated the USAID, which was funding much of this lunacy,” Trump told the gathering in Miami.
“In less than a single month, DOGE has already saved over $55 billion – and we’re just getting started… We will rapidly grow our economy by dramatically shrinking the federal government,” he added.
Earlier Wednesday, Trump defended the DOGE’s move and questioned why US taxpayers’ money was used for voter turnout in India.
“Why are we giving $21 million to India? They got a lot more money. They are one of the highest taxing countries in the world in terms of us; we can hardly get in there because their tariffs are so high. I have a lot of respect for India and their Prime Minister, but giving $21 million for voter turnout? In India? What about voter turnout here?” he said at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
BJP On USAID’s ‘India Voter Turnout’
After the DOGE’s announcement on USAID, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) attacked the opposition party, Congress, over the $21 million grant, saying it “definitely is external interference in India’s electoral process”.
“Who gains from this? Not the ruling party (the BJP) for sure!” party leader Amit Malviya said.
He also linked the initiative to the “systematic infiltration” of Indian institutions by foreign entities.
Mr Malviya also slammed Hungarian-born US financier George Soros, who has been accused by right-wing political figures worldwide of influencing domestic politics through his Open Society Foundations.
“Once again, it is George Soros, a known associate of the Congress party and the Gandhis, whose shadow looms over our electoral process,” Mr Malviya claimed.
Mr Malviya also flagged a controversial 2012 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Election Commission of India and The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), an organisation linked to Mr Soros’s Open Society Foundation.